


What is it you fear?

by Ozpin_Lover_MP



Series: Beacons of Vale [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Bartholomew needs a hug, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Ozpin Needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 20:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19678687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ozpin_Lover_MP/pseuds/Ozpin_Lover_MP
Summary: Roaches: A small bug-sized Grimm that work together to create illusions of your greatest fear.





	What is it you fear?

**Author's Note:**

> So whilst this story is technically part of "Beacons of Vale", it can be read as a standalone.

“And that is how Atlas became the most technically advanced,” Bartholomew Oobleck finished his presentation. He waited for a second as everyone finished taking notes before changing the slide. “Now I want everyone to attempt to answer this exam question before the end of the lesson. Your answer doesn’t need to be very long. Two paragraphs will do it,” 

There were a few dramatic sighs from the students as they got to work. 

Suddenly, there was a scuttling noise from the door. It opened a fraction and Bartholomew something small and black out of the corner of his eye. 

Almost swearing, he froze. Roaches. There were Grimm Roaches in his classroom! 

Many students had already seen what was going on and were grabbing their weapons or running to the front of the classroom. They may not have seen this type of Grimm before, but they sure as hell looked determined to fight them. 

“Wait!” Bartholomew called out, but it was too late. 

Ruby had already shot one of the bugs. Immediately the Grimm amassed together. Their shape morphed, and instead of a pile of Grimm, there stood a humongous clown. It looked old and decrepit, and were those blood smears on its face? 

Ruby screamed, and Yang punched it, pushing it over. That would have killed some of the bugs, but Bartholomew knew that it wasn’t enough. Not only were more filling up in the classroom, but Ruby’s clown had turned into a dead clone of Ruby. 

“They turn into your worst fears!” Bartholomew called out to the class, “Try to stick together, and help each other out!” 

People started to form into teams, but Bartholomew already foresaw a problem. Velvet was the only one of her teammates to be retaking his class. Already she was cowering under a giant spider that had knocked her weapon out of reach. 

Bartholomew grabbed his flask from beside his desk, flicked the switch on the side, and slammed it into the head of the spider. It immediately disintegrated into roaches again, and Bartholomew had to leap back so as not to get covered in them. 

He looked around. “Stick with team JNPR until you can find the rest of your team,” he instructed Velvet. She nodded and ran off to join team JNPR. 

Bartholomew hit a swarm of roaches that were starting to form behind him. He did not want to find out what his worst fear was, thank you very much. Not that he didn’t have a pretty good idea what it would be… No. He couldn’t afford to think about that. Right now he needed to get his students out of the classroom. 

There was a shout, and Bartholomew looked up. At the back of the classroom, Weiss had been corned by a man with white hair and clothes. Bartholomew rushed him, and shot him with his bazooka, quickly turning him back to pile of scampering Roaches. 

“Thank you, professor,” Weiss said sheepishly. 

Bartholomew merely nodded at her and started to concentrate on getting a path to the door clear. 

He was in the middle of the fray when suddenly, the lights seemed to dim. It got a lot colder, and the air smelled musty. He shivered, and try to push down the already surfacing memories of Salem’s castle. 

He was aware of a figure behind him. Bartholomew slowly turned. Damn. It was unmistakably Tyrian. Of course, it was. Who else would it be? Who else could provoke that much fear in him from merely standing there? 

Bartholomew felt his panic rise, as his arms started to shake. It was okay, it was just a vision. He could deal with that. All it would take one hit from his Thermos. This wasn’t the real Tyrian. 

Tyrian cackled. “Long time no see,” he sneered. 

Bartholomew involuntarily stepped backwards. _Fight_ , he told himself. _Fight, now!_ Shakily, he raised his thermos in self-defence. He couldn’t attack Tyrian. He wanted to. He so wanted to. But he couldn’t. He was frozen to the spot. 

Suddenly, a thin épée sunk through Tyrian’s middle, and he collapsed. Weiss kicked her way through the remaining Grimm. 

Bartholomew nodded at her, taking a deep breath. Right. Now was not the time to freak out. His students needed him. Get everyone to safety first. Freak out later. 

“Everyone out!” he yelled over the noise, “And go to the canteen! Emergency protocol!” 

Students flooded out of the room, all scrambling to get away from the Grimm. Of course, it wouldn’t do much good. There were more Grimm in the hallway. Right. There was no way they would get to the canteen unharmed. Unless… Bartholomew was going to have to provide a distraction. He could run in the opposite direction, and go and find Ozpin whilst he was at it. Goodness knows the state Ozpin would be in if the Roaches had taken him by surprise. 

“Aren’t you coming with us, professor?” Weiss asked Bartholomew. 

“It’s Doctor.” Bartholomew shook his head. “I’m going to provide a distraction and go and inform Ozpin of what’s happening. Port is in the next classroom and will be able to take you all to the canteen,” 

Weiss nodded and ran off to join her teammates. 

Bartholomew fought his way out of the classroom and blew on his hands like a whistle. That caught the attention of some of most of the Grimm. The Roaches turned to him, clicking their feelers. Now would probably be a good time to run. 

He ran. 

Thank goodness for his semblance. He would never have been able to have made it down the corridor so quickly otherwise. 

He needed to get to Ozpin. That was his next goal. And not let the Grimm catch up to him. He didn’t want to see Tyrian again… 

The thing was, your average hunter wasn’t trained to deal with Roaches. They required years of extra training to learn how to handle. It was lucky that they were one of the rarest type of Grimm. How they had managed to get into the school, Bartholomew would never know… 

There was a manic cackle, unmistakably Tyrian’s from behind him, and Bartholomew sped up again, not giving himself time to think. He mustn’t panic now. He had to get to Ozpin. Ozpin… Bartholomew new perfectly well how horrific Ozpin’s nightmares were. If Ozpin hadn’t seen the Roaches coming… his office would be a new type of hell. 

Bartholomew skidded to a halt in front of the emergency stairs, and slammed open the door. He then proceeded to run up them, two at a time. If there were Grimm in the school, then it was highly possible that the lift might get stuck. 

The emergency staircase was small and cramped, but Bartholomew went up as fast as he could. Maybe that extra bit of adrenaline he got from seeing Tyrian earlier was helping. 

Ugh, Tyrian- 

No, he couldn’t afford to break down now. Get to Ozpin first. Have panic attack later. 

Finally, Bartholomew burst into Ozpin’s office. 

The sight was as bad as he had feared. 

All around, were dead bodies. Some Bartholomew recognised; Qrow, himself, Glynda, Ironwood- but many, many other that Bartholomew did not. Some of them were even children- far too young to die. 

In the corner of the room, Salem was standing there leaning on… Ozpin’s shield. Ozpin himself was cowering beneath his shield, obviously trying to make sense of what was happening. 

Bartholomew aimed his Thermos and shot Salem straight in the head. 

She immediately dissolved into Grimm, along with the rest of the illusions. Bartholomew shot at them a few more times; making them scamper away to regroup. 

He then ran over to Ozpin and skidded onto his knees beside him. Ozpin cautiously lowered his shield. 

“It-it’s okay,” Bartholomew managed, voice breaking, “They’re just roaches- everywhere,” 

Ozpin nodded silently. His face was still mostly blank, although his eyes were shining a bit. 

“Hug?” Bartholomew offered. 

Ozpin nodded, still staring off into the distance. 

Bartholomew shuffled up to him and pulled him into his arms. He felt tears flood his eyes, as Ozpin hugged him back. 

The Roaches- Tyrian- Bartholomew couldn’t think. His brain was on a loop of Tyrian - Tyrian- Tyrian- Torture - pain -

He tried to focus on Ozpin. His friend. Whom he was here, safe with. Ozpin was shaking… and crying as well. 

Bartholomew took a deep breath and pulled away slightly. “We should get to the canteen- emergency procedure-“ 

Ozpin nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. 

Suddenly, Ozpin lunged forward, grabbed Bartholomew’s Thermos off the ground, and shot something in the doorway. 

“More Roaches,” Ozpin quietly explained. 

Goodness- his voice was barely audible. Bartholomew’s heart broke for his friend. Ozpin went quiet when he was scared. It’s what Salem had taught him to do. Stay quiet. 

Bartholomew stood, before helping Ozpin up. 

They stood their, holding hands, tears in their eyes. Ozpin leant against Bartholomew. Bartholomew hugged him gently. 

… 

Practically the whole school was in the canteen. Students milled about everywhere, many comforting their crying friends. 

“We’ve called Roach-control,” Glynda informed the other members of staff, “although it could be a while until they get here,” 

Ozpin nodded but didn’t say anything. Bartholomew gently squeezed his hand. 

“Do we have a border patrol of the room?” Bartholomew asked. 

Glynda nodded. “Port is taking care of it, along with a few students who volunteered. Most seem to be somewhat… traumatised. They don’t have the proper training to deal with their worst fear,” 

“Few do,” Ozpin said so quietly that Bartholomew was the only one who could hear him. 

“Do we have blankets? And are the stoves working?” Bartholomew asked suddenly, “Getting warm and drinking hot chocolate may help to calm the students, attracting less Grimm,” 

Twenty minutes later, all the students in the hall had a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate. 

Bartholomew and Ozpin sat at the edge of the hall, sharing a blanket. Ozpin was staring at his mug of hot cocoa very intensely, as if it held the secrets to the universe. 

“The Roach-control should be here soon,” Bartholomew reassured Ozpin, “and then it will only a matter of time before we can go to bed.” 

Ozpin nodded in response, not looking up from his hot cocoa. 

“If you want, you could stay with me tonight?” Bartholomew offered gently, “so that we don’t have to be alone?” 

Ozpin nodded again. 

Just then, a couple of students wandered over. One of them, Nora was crying onto Ren’s shoulder. 

“Nora thinks that she saw our teammates die,” Ren explained, “I keep telling her it was just the roaches, but now we can’t find Jaune or Pyrrha!” 

Bartholomew sent Ozpin a panicked look, but Ozpin seemed perfectly calm. Well, no less calm than he had been a few seconds ago. 

“Tell them that the Roaches often use the death of a loved one as visions,” Ozpin mouthed, “and that Pyrrha and Jaune are fine. They are helping Port secure the perimeter, which is why they aren’t here,” 

Bartholomew repeated that, and although the Ren nodded, Nora kept crying. 

Bartholomew patted the floor next to him. “Why don’t you sit down and have some hot cocoa?” he suggested, “and Ren, could you get her a blanket?” 

Ren nodded and ran off to find a blanket. 

Nora sat down, and tried to get control over her crying. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed, “It’s just, I lost my family when I was so little, and to think that I might lose them again,” 

“It’s quite alright, Miss Valkyrie,” Ozpin murmured, “You are allowed to be upset. And this, Beacon, is and will always be a safe place. It’s okay to be scared,” 

“But it wasn’t even real!” Nora wailed, “I know that… but it just… they looked so dead!” 

“Nora,” Bartholomew said gently, “If you had a nightmare that your teammates were dead, would you believe it?” 

Nora shook her head. “No! Of course not!” 

“But would you still be upset?” 

Nora thought about this for a second. “Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, it would just be a stupid dream,” 

“And that’s exactly what the Roaches are. A bad dream. Their visions, although frightening, are not real. That does not mean you can’t be scared, or upset, it just means that you don’t need to worry about your team,” 

Nora nodded, still sniffling, as Ren came back and laced a blanket over her shoulders. He then sat down beside her and passed her a mug of hot chocolate. 

Bartholomew noticed that Ren also seemed a bit shaken, trying to make himself as small as possible and not saying a word. 

“Why don’t we play the associations game?” Bartholomew suddenly asked. They needed a distraction. 

Ozpin raised one eyebrow, Ren shrugged but Nora nodded. 

“Okay, I’ll start… with hot chocolate,” Bartholomew suggested. 

“Which makes me think of marshmallows,” Nora continued. 

“Which makes me think of pillows,” 

Nora giggled. It was such a positive sound in the room, like someone had lit a candle in a pit of despair. “What have marshmallows got to do with pillows?” she asked. 

Bartholomew shrugged. “They are soft,” 

“You can’t sleep on them though,” Nora argued. 

“You could… theoretically. It would just be a bit sticky” Bartholomew retaliated. 

“Pillows make me think- make me think of cushions,” Ren put in suddenly. 

“Which makes me think of sofas!” Nora added. 

“Which makes me think of TV,” Bartholomew put in. 

“Which makes me think of that awful King of Vale musical,” Ozpin suddenly put in. 

Nora and Ren looked surprised as if they had forgotten that Ozpin was there, so Bartholomew quickly put in: “It wasn’t that bad. Some of the songs were quite good,” 

“Is that the one that was in the East-end last year?” Nora asked, suddenly looking excited. 

Ren sighed profusely. “Here we go again,” he mumbled. 

“Why yes, the one starring Min-Lanuel Liranda?” Bartholomew asked. 

Nora nodded repeatedly. “I love that musical so much! It’s one of my favourites!” 

“Who’s your favourite character?” Bartholomew asked kindly. 

Nora suddenly grew a little shy. “The King of Vale of course. He’s hot, er I mean cute, I mean he’s obviously the best character since the musical is about him,” 

Bartholomew felt Ozpin stiffen beside him, and had to hold back a laugh. What would he give to turn and see Ozpin’s face right now. 

“I also like the Duke of Fillin,” Nora continued, “In fact, I kind of ship him with the King of Vale. They’d make such a cute couple!” 

Bartholomew spluttered, as Ozpin mumbled something about getting more hot chocolate. What made it funnier was that Bartholomew new that Ozpin had despised the Duke of Fillin and the idea of them being in a relationship was so absurd it became hilarious. 

“Is he okay?” Ren asked awkwardly, gesturing to Ozpin.

“It takes years of dedicated training to learn how to deal with Roaches,” Bartholomew sidestepped the question, “None of which the staff here have. Given the rarity of Roaches and the increased use of robots in the military, it’s not a very popular career choice,” 

“I can see why,” Nora said quietly, “Who’d wanna train to have to see their dead friends all of the time?” 

“Not many. Another factor is that the Roaches course tries to only take on students who have had no past trauma in their life. Statistically speaking, most huntsmen and huntresses choose to become, well, huntsmen and huntresses after seeing the amount of damage Grimm can do first hand,” Bartholomew couldn’t help but add. 

“So you’re saying that most of the people here were almost killed by Grimm as children?” Nora asked. 

Bartholomew nodded. “Sadly it is a very common occurrence in this world that we live in,” 

“Were you?” Nora asked softly. 

“I was born in Mountain Glenn,” was all Bartholomew replied. That was enough. Everyone knew the tragedy of Mountain Glenn. 

Ozpin came back with two more mugs of hot chocolate. He sat down next to Bartholomew and gave him one. 

“The Roach control are here,” Ozpin explained softly, “We will be able to leave the canteen in just a few hours.” 

… 

“Are you feeling okay now?” Bartholomew asked, sitting down next to Ozpin on the bed. 

Ozpin nodded, and then shook his head, and sighed. Bartholomew gently pulled him into a hug, and Ozpin hid his face on his shoulder. 

“They were just roaches,” Ozpin said, “nothing more than a nightmare. But I-I-“ 

Bartholomew gently rubbed his back. “It’s okay. I know I get it. You’re safe here. You can cry. We- we both can,” 

Ozpin nodded. “I’m sorry I’m being selfish. You’ve been through a lot today too-“ 

“And that doesn’t invalidate your feelings,” Bartholomew argued, “we’re both upset. And that’s okay. We can be upset together,” 

Ozpin chuckled through his sobs. “What a pair we make. Shall we actually go to bed so that it doesn’t matter if we fall asleep?” 

Bartholomew nodded. 

A few minutes later they were curled up together in the corner of Bartholomew’s bed, a tangle of arms and legs beneath the duvet. 

“Mine was Tyrian,” Bartholomew said after a while. “He was right there, in my classroom-“ he buried his head into Ozpin’s embrace as Ozpin rubbed his back. 

“I’m not surprised,” Ozpin replied softly, “you are just as scared of him as I am of Salem,” 

“If I ever see her ugly face again I’ll break her perfect nose,” Bartholomew mumbled. 

Ozpin merely nodded, continuing to gently rub circles on his back. 

“How do you deal with it, Oz?” Bartholomew asked eventually. 

“Deal with what?” Ozpin asked. 

“E- Everything!” Bartholomew responded, suddenly clutching Ozpin tighter, “The memories, the anxiety, the panic attacks… all the stuff that Tyrian and Salem left us with!” 

“Practice,” was all Ozpin could say, “I’ve spent so much of my life pretending to be alright, that up to a certain point, it just comes naturally,” 

“Oh,”

“But you did really well this evening,” Ozpin reassured him, “Even after literally seeing your worst fear, you kept your head and helped many students. You even helped Miss Valkyrie and Mr Lie with their fears,” 

“Only after having a panic attack in your office,” Bartholomew replied dully.

“If I remember correctly, I wasn’t fairing much better at that point. Seeing so many people dead, and Salem standing there…” Ozpin started to shake, “For a moment, I thought, I thought it was real. I thought you, and Qrow, and Glynda, and everyone I love, was dead!” 

They lay there in the quiet for a few moments, both crying out their fears. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Bartholomew asked, sniffing. 

“About what?” 

“About what they did to us,” Bartholomew clarified. 

Ozpin was quiet for a moment. “I- I’m not sure. You can if you want to- but I really don’t want to think about Salem right now,” 

“That’s fair,” Bartholomew mumbled. “I don’t think that I want to talk about it either,” 

“We should probably go to sleep, it’s late,” Ozpin suggested. 

Bartholomew nodded, and somehow pulled Ozpin deeper into the cuddle. “We should. Goodnight… love you… if you need anything don’t hesitate to wake me,” 

“Likewise,” Ozpin mumbled into his chest.

…


End file.
